Glory's Diego Castro and Melbourne Victory marquee Keisuke Honda, who missed eight matches through injury, were a further vote back.

The prize underlines the value of Krishna, who is off contract and will decide on his future by the end of the month.

"Wellington is very close to me ... it all comes down to my family and the decision I'm going to make is going to be good for everyone," he said.

His teammate Filip Kurto, also out of contract, was named goalkeeper of the year, while Glory pair Tony Popovic and Chris Ikonomidis were saluted as the league's best coach and young player respectively.

While Victory crashed out of the A-League championship race on Sunday, their women's team represented in style at the awards night.

Nairn (21 votes) beat golden boot winner Sam Kerr (16 votes) to the prize after a series of virtuoso performances for Victory, helping them to an against-the-odds premiership.

Boss Jeff Hopkins was named coach of the year, with Canberra United-based Matilda Ellie Carpenter the best young player of the season.

In addition to the star performers of the past 12 months, four greats of Australian football were inducted into the Hall of Fame.